Data Point of the Week: XR Funding Reaches $2.1 Billion in 2017

Despite tempered expectations and lower-than-expected consumer adoption for AR and VR in 2017, funding levels remain roughly equal to 2016. This is according to Crunchbase’s latest data release.

Specifically, funding levels for the year are about $2.1 billion. This includes the very recent $200 million that Niantic received to develop more games that are built on the architecture and game mechanics of Pokemon Go, such as a Harry Potter-themed version.

This is encouraging news for the sector, at a time when it could use some. We share the belief that growth will come, though it will take longer than some of 2016’s hype cycle might have indicated. Funding levels can be a telling and leading indicator of growth we can expect.

However it should be noted that a lot of this investment has gone to a few big outliers, such as Magic Leap and Unity. As we’ve examined, this takes a little away from the overall funding levels as a barometer of sector health, but isn’t too damning. Mostly the funding picture is good news.

It’s also interesting to note that funding levels are growing quarter over quarter basis throughout 2017 (which isn’t over of course…) with Q4 levels passing $80 billion. And its telling that investors are seeing at least some returns: XR acquisitions are on the rise, but roughly equal to 2016.

See more details below, including investment and exit trending, and a breakdown of the companies/recipients of funding so far.

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Disclosure: ARtillry has no financial stake in the companies mentioned in this post, nor received payment for its production. Disclosure and ethics policy can be seen here.